More dead whales found in San Francisco Bay Area

Rising water temperatures threaten gray whales that come to give birth every winter in Mexico's Baja California lagoon. The species had fully recovered after being in danger of extinction for years due to hunting, but now it faces the challenges of global warming.
Video provided by AFP
Newslook

A gray whale breaches the surface during a whale watching trip off the coast of San Diego.(Photo: Gregory Bull/AP Photo)

Gray whales are currently migrating up the coast from Mexico to Alaska. Experts say ship strikes are a leading cause of whale mortality.

About a week ago, officials reported that the third dead whale found in the area appeared to have died from blunt-force trauma from a ship. The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito said a team of 11 scientists found significant bruising and hemorrhaging to the whale's blubber and muscle tissue and several skull fractures.

In March, the carcass of a gray whale that died of malnutrition was found on Angel Island. Another died in April after an orca attacked it and it then got entangled in fishers' nets.